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Getting GST codes right during the quarter so the Business Activity Statement is a review rather than a rebuild. In Western Australia the deciding constraint is usually payroll tax from a$1,000,000 · up to 0.055%, administered by RevenueWA — so that is what every product below is judged against first.
Showing Western Australia, Australia — AUD, GST, DD/MM/YYYY.
Search, sort, and filter the matrix. Every value is a word, not a tick — so nothing depends on colour to be understood.
Showing 9 of 9 criteria.
| Criterion | Built for this market | Built for this market | Built for this market | Available here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAS lodgementProducing the Business Activity Statement and lodging it with the ATO. | BAS labels computed from posted GST codes — Fully supported | Direct ATO lodgement — Fully supported | Direct ATO lodgement — Fully supported | Direct ATO lodgement — Fully supported |
| Local tax return from the ledgerWhether the periodic indirect-tax return is built from posted transactions, or has to be assembled somewhere else. | BAS prepared from the ledger — Fully supported | BAS prepared and lodged — Fully supported | BAS prepared and lodged — Fully supported | BAS prepared and lodged — Fully supported |
| AI categorisationWhether transactions, bills, and receipts are classified by a model or by hand-written rules. | Included on every plan — Fully supported | Bank rules and suggestions — Supported with a caveat | Rules-based — Limited | Learned rules — Supported with a caveat |
| Bank feedsHow transactions get in: a live connection to the bank, or a file you download and upload. | Big four plus neobanks — Fully supported | Broad coverage — Fully supported | Broad coverage — Fully supported | Big four plus others — Fully supported |
| Multiple entitiesWhether a second legal entity fits in the same subscription or needs a second one. | Included — Fully supported | One organisation per subscription — Not supported | Separate subscription per business — Limited | One company per subscription — Not supported |
| Accountant accessWhether your advisor gets a login, and whether that login costs a seat. | Free, unlimited — Fully supported | Free advisor seat — Fully supported | Free advisor access — Fully supported | Free accountant seat — Fully supported |
| Pricing modelHow the bill scales — per user, per company, per module, or per transaction volume. | Per organisation — Fully supported | Per organisation, payroll limits per tier — Limited | Tiered with employee limits — Limited | Per company, seat-limited tiers — Limited |
| Migration inHow much work it is to bring existing books across. | Assisted, included — Fully supported | Conversion tools and partners — Supported with a caveat | Migration tooling and partners — Supported with a caveat | Import tools and partner services — Supported with a caveat |
| Local supportSupport in local hours, in local languages, by people who know the local rules. | AEST business hours — Fully supported | AEST support, large advisor network — Fully supported | Australian phone support — Fully supported | AEST support — Fully supported |
BAS lodgement
Producing the Business Activity Statement and lodging it with the ATO.
Local tax return from the ledger
Whether the periodic indirect-tax return is built from posted transactions, or has to be assembled somewhere else.
AI categorisation
Whether transactions, bills, and receipts are classified by a model or by hand-written rules.
Bank feeds
How transactions get in: a live connection to the bank, or a file you download and upload.
Multiple entities
Whether a second legal entity fits in the same subscription or needs a second one.
Accountant access
Whether your advisor gets a login, and whether that login costs a seat.
Pricing model
How the bill scales — per user, per company, per module, or per transaction volume.
Migration in
How much work it is to bring existing books across.
Local support
Support in local hours, in local languages, by people who know the local rules.
Criteria are scoped to Australia: rows that would be meaningless here are not shown rather than being padded with "not applicable". Where we have not verified a capability for this market, the cell says "Not documented" rather than claiming a gap.
AUD billing with BAS prepared from the ledger.
Founded in the region; the reference product for Australian bookkeepers.
Australian-built with strong payroll and a large local partner base.
Australian edition with BAS and STP support.
Same in Western Australia as everywhere else in Australia — pricing is national, not regional.
Prices are in AUD and exclude GST. Per organisation with unlimited users. Verified .
We describe the pricing model rather than reprinting prices. A copied price goes stale without warning; a pricing model does not.
Xero
Per organisation, tiered, with payroll employee limits per tier.
Current Xero pricing (opens on the vendor’s own site) ↗ · model checked
MYOB Business
Tiered monthly subscription, with employee-count limits on payroll tiers.
Current MYOB Business pricing (opens on the vendor’s own site) ↗ · model checked
QuickBooks Online
Per company file, tiered by feature, with seat limits per tier.
Current QuickBooks Online pricing (opens on the vendor’s own site) ↗ · model checked
Each page below goes deeper on one product, written for Western Australia.
HelloBooks vs Xero
Which prepares and lodges BAS with less fiddling?
Compare for Western Australia →
HelloBooks vs MYOB Business
BAS and GST handling compared to MYOB.
Compare for Western Australia →
HelloBooks vs QuickBooks Online
BAS preparation compared to QuickBooks Australia.
Compare for Western Australia →
| Requirement | What it demands | HelloBooks |
|---|---|---|
| BAS lodgementLegal requirement · ATO ↗ | GST-registered businesses lodge a Business Activity Statement monthly or quarterly, reporting GST collected, GST credits, and PAYG amounts. | Covered |
| Tax invoice requirementsLegal requirement · ATO ↗ | A tax invoice must show the supplier ABN, the words "Tax invoice", the GST amount or a statement that the total includes GST, and the buyer identity above the notified value. | Covered |
| Single Touch Payroll Phase 2Legal requirement · ATO ↗ | Every pay run must be reported to the ATO on or before payday with disaggregated gross income components. | Partly covered |
| PAYG withholding without an ABNLegal requirement · ATO ↗ | Where a supplier does not quote an ABN, the payer must withhold at the top rate and remit it. | Covered |
| Taxable payments annual report (TPAR)Legal requirement · ATO ↗ | Businesses in listed industries must report payments to contractors annually. | Covered |
GST and BAS are federal and identical across Western Australia, so the local variable is payroll tax: it starts once Australian wages exceed A$1,000,000, at rates up to 0.055%, administered by RevenueWA.
Region authority: RevenueWA ↗ · Western Australia compliance guide
Partly. GST and BAS are federal and identical across Western Australia, so the local variable is payroll tax: it starts once Australian wages exceed A$1,000,000, at rates up to 0.055%, administered by RevenueWA. The national GST rules are the same wherever you are registered, so the software shortlist barely moves — what moves is the configuration. Anything you choose has to handle payroll tax from a$1,000,000 · up to 0.055% correctly on every tax invoice without you remembering to set it per transaction.
Payroll tax in Western Australia has a tax-free threshold of A$1,000,000 in annual Australian wages. WA's diminishing deduction is unique: from $1M to $7.5M, the threshold deduction phases out linearly so that the effective rate grows from 0% at exactly $1M to a full 5.5% on all taxable wages above $7.5M. The mechanism softens the cliff edge for mid-size employers crossing the threshold — economically you keep most of your deduction at $2M but lose it entirely by $7.5M. RevenueWA is the authority to check for anything region-specific — see https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-finance/payroll-tax.
Pricing is national, not regional: $22 and $55 per month, billed annually, in AUD, plus a free tier. Prices are in AUD and exclude GST. Prices are per organisation with unlimited users, so a business in Western Australia pays the same as one anywhere else in Australia.
In practice the shortlist here is usually Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB Business — those are the products with the most local install base and the most registered BAS agents who already know them. That familiarity is a genuine cost saving, and it is the main reason to stay put if nothing else is broken.
Yes, and at no extra cost. Advisors get their own login with their own permissions, and the seat is free — so bringing in a Western Australia-based registered BAS agent does not change your bill. That matters most where the advisor relationship, not the software, is the real switching cost.
Each market has its own tax regime, currency, and shortlist of incumbents. Switch to the one where your business is registered.
Australia comparison hub · All states and territories · Australia compliance hub